Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 20.pdf/265

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Restoration of Astoria
249

Christianity, and the general civilization of extensive and unenlightened British possessions.

A week later, July 11, 1814, William Pitt sent a second note to Lord Castlereagh on this matter.[1]

The reduction of the navy and army, he thought, would give good selections for colonists. These should be young men of the best character, soldiers and sailors, married, with not more than two children to a family. Each should be skilled in some trade or calling useful to a colony. Care must be taken in the selection of officers for defence, and for general policy of the colony,-married men, he thought, with some property. The colonists were to engage in trade, fisheries, and commerce, as well as to explore the country and its resources. The precedent for such action had been set by Russia, after the death of Peter the Great, in ascertaining the resources of the country and the people. Many hints, Pitt thought, could be obtained from the Lewis and Clark reports, and from Müller's report on the Russian people. The selection of colonists should include some men of science, skilled in natural history, mineralogy, etc. He suggested as a leader a Mohawk chief, educated in Scotland, of high character, we informed, master of the English language, an Indian, yet warmly attached to Great Britain. Pitt was sure Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the North West Company, and the Hudson's Bay Company, would all aid in such a scheme.

There was great overcrowding in England at that time, and economic suffering was great. This may have been at the bottom of Pitt's plan; but nothing seems to have come of it It is likely that the Government felt more inclined to aid colonists to points in eastern Canada, where safcty was greater and expense much less.

The Treaty of Ghent was signed Christmas Eve, 1814, at the little Flemish town of that name. The Columbia River was not mentioned in the treaty. Shortly after their return from Ghent, Lord Bathurst told Simon McGllivray, that "re-


  1. F. 0. 5, Vol. 103.